Window Re-Dressing

By KATIE ZEZIMA

Published: July 28, 2011

BARBARA JONES had one stipulation when she was renovating her 1794 farmhouse: keep the original windows.

''For me, it's aesthetics,'' Ms. Jones said as she opened a white wooden window, the summer sun bouncing off its wavy glass. ''Keeping the importance of what you have.''

Old windows have acquired a bad reputation over the last few decades as drafty, inefficient and ecologically suspect: fixtures that should be replaced rather than refurbished.

But over the last decade or so, homeowners like Ms. Jones are becoming more common. Many people are keeping their old windows, fixing what they have in the name of appearance, history and, for some, cost savings, according to architects, preservationists and window restorers.

As the host of ''This Old House'' and ''Ask This Old House'' on PBS, Kevin O'Connor has a front-row seat on this shift. Nowadays, he said, when he talks to people about home restoration, windows are the ''first and most frequently talked about subject.'' Mr. O'Connor and his wife spent years fixing the distinctive windows (some arched, others tiny and on hinges) in an 1894 Queen Anne Victorian in Beverly, Mass., that they owned until recently.

''They were as integral to the house as any other component,'' Mr. O'Connor said.

Amy Harrington McAuley, who owns Oculus Fine Carpentry in Portland, Ore., agreed that homeowners with old houses are more focused on saving the windows, but, she added, ''Sometimes where they get stumbled is, 'How do I fix them?' ''

Ms. McAuley is a speaker this week at the first National Window Preservation Summit in Bledsoe, Ky., where about two dozen people have gathered to help people answer that question by drafting national standards for old-window restoration. Organized by a collaborative of window restorers, the conference is sponsored by, among others, the Preservation Trades Network, a group supporting traditional building trades, and the Kentucky State Historic Preservation Office.

''It needs to be put into a standardized book,'' said Duffy Hoffman, one of the drafters and a window restorer in Elkins, W.Va., about basic window-restoration techniques. ''You can't replace the wood. You can't replace the craftsmanship that was put into it.''

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has also made protecting old windows a priority, devoting a section of its Web site to such topics as making old windows last. The group's site offers a model letter for individuals to use to urge the United States Senate to pass Home Star, an energy bill that would provide tax benefits to homeowners who make old windows more energy-efficient. (The House passed its own Home Star bill this year.) Homeowners can already receive tax benefits for installing efficient new windows. ''We're just trying to spread the word, so people can make good choices,'' said Rebecca Harris, a program officer at the trust, who pointed out that installing new windows in old homes, whose original windows often have unusual shapes, can distort the overall architectural design.

''They don't automatically have to go to replacement,'' Ms. Harris said of homeowners.

Robyn Brothers is one homeowner who regrets doing that. She ripped out the windows of her 1857 Greek Revival home in Marshfield, Mass., replacing them with new thermal-paned ones. Ms. Brothers hoped the replacements would prevent drafts and save money, but she said she paid a ''shocking sum'' for ''not even high-end'' windows.

Moreover, ''You could hear the traffic more'' through the new windows, Ms. Brothers said, and there was also a vague feeling of loss. ''It's really striking when the windows have been replaced,'' she said. ''It's like the house loses some of its character, its soul.''

When Ms. Brothers decided to renovate a 1940s home she owns nearby, she insisted on keeping the old windows.

The proponents of preserving old windows are trying hard to buck the still-strong belief that new windows are more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly than old ones. They say that preserving old windows means those windows will not be tossed into a landfill, adding to the waste stream, and that old windows are usually made from old-growth wood that can, and often already has, withstood the test of time. New windows, they say, with their many synthetic components, may not be as durable.

Old-window advocates do admit that it is hard for an old window to match the energy efficiency of a new one. But with the right steps it can come very close, said Paul Button, an energy auditor in Manchester, N.H.

For example, Mr. Button recommends installing a boxed cornice, a horizontal box above a window that hides the curtain rod, to help circulate the heat from room radiators around the window area. Also, he said, a good storm window is crucial for maximizing the window's efficiency.

Mr. Button and others have also noted that the maintenance of old windows that are in decent shape can cost as little as a gallon of paint, while new high-efficiency windows can cost thousands of dollars each.

''Stay on the paint, that's really all there is to it,'' said Steve Quillian, the owner of Wood Window Makeover in Tampa, Fla.